Cinderella Man
by Lithium012
Summary: Set in the fairytale of Cinderella, we follow Isogai - a poor boy living in an abusive household. His life was changed when he was nine, when he accidentally met the prince of the town, Maehara Hiroto. They have another chance to meet, at the prince's coming to age ball. That is if Isogai can sneak out of his home and make it before the chance disappears from his fingers. Rated T
1. Chapter 1

**One**

* * *

He was nine when he was able to go into the kingdom and explore all of the markets that are setting up for the biggest harvest of the year. This was exciting for a child, as the young prince imagined all of the different kinds of toys and snacks he could possibly eat. Before, he was: too little/Koro was too irresponsible/Mama was too tired/Papa was too busy to go. This year, there was no reason (at least none that weren't outrageous) for him not to go.

His mother and father weren't able to attend this exciting event with him. So his personal butler Koro took the young prince instead. Maehara was more than ecstatic, he was pretty much on cloud nine. So much so that he wasn't able to sleep properly the night before and wouldn't stop talking about it till his father told him to settle down. Doesn't his father understand? This is the most amazing thing that ever happened to him. Well, besides his birthday parties, and running around the palace gardens, and eating heaven cheesecake that only comes around once every year. But that's beside the point, at this very moment in his life, this market place adventure was way more exciting.

Imagine all of the food and toys and people he'll get to see. Maehara exhausted himself from excitement at 10 pm the night before, sleeping peacefully through the night with dreams of endless faces. All except one, he could see pale gold eyes looking directly into his. He can see tiny tuffs of brown hair sticking out from underneath a cap. He dreamt of the boy, holding his hand and leading Maehara somewhere. He didn't know where, but he was more than excited to follow him.

For some reason, he felt safe.

When daylight finally came, Koro couldn't get out of the house fast enough. He nearly fell into the dirt as the young prince dragged him outside. The hem of his black robe is dragging itself into the mud, leaving streaks of dirt and filth on his freshly pressed robe. But, he knew he could never get made at Maehara. It's only normal for young children to be excited.

"Hurry up Koro," Maehara whined. "I don't want to be late for this!"

"And yet, you are always late for your morning studies?" Koro asked.

Maehara rolled his eyes. "Cause those are _boring._ This is not. So, can we get going? Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with extra cake on top?"

Koro chuckled, helping the young prince into a little black car. The king stepped out and told Koro he better look after his son or else there will be consequences. Even so, the king knew that Koro would never harm the young prince. Koro loved him just like his own son, sometimes, it was questionable if it was something much more.

Perhaps respect? Guidance? Either way, the king was happy that Koro was around. Without him, he couldn't imagine Maehara growing up into his title.

The prince waved goodbye to his father, sitting down as Koro climbed into the care. His father waved back, flashing one of his rare soft smiles.

The journey down didn't take too long, 10 minutes at the most. But to Maehara, 10 minutes was too long and he wanted to get there at once. When he becomes king, he swear that he'll make the roads much, much shorter. That way, he'll be able to get into the market place a lot easier.

However, Koro taught him the great virtue of patience. Patience is what he needed, because good things come to those who wait, albeit a bit eagerly. And as if granted by some magic wish, great things were to come his way. Waiting for it was clearly worth it.

* * *

The market place was crowded, a little bit too crowded for Koro's liking. His greatest fear was losing the young prince in an infinite sea of people. God knows what may happen if someone happened to recognize them. Thank god no one particularly cared about Koro, but the prince? That person would make a killing through the slave trade – something that's been getting more and more popular as the years went by. It's concerning to say the least.

Koro thought of all the possible incidences that could happen. They could be mobbed (which was fairly tamed at this point), but the chance of that is fairly unlikely. The village people were not allowed to see the young prince through childhood. It helped stop people from making wild assumptions about the queen's faithfulness to her husband. A more likely thought entered Koro's mind, which was Koro getting murdered brutally in one of the back alleys and Maehara getting kidnapped and sold into slavery.

The chances of this happening was higher than another other kind of scenario Koro could come up with. Who wouldn't want a nine year old boy with dirty blond hair? Koro swallowed at all of the awful things that could happen.

"Come on Koro," Maehara said, tugging on Koro's arm, pulling him out of his thoughts. "I want to see the games!" He knew he couldn't say no to a cute face like that.

Koro and Maehara spent the day looking at the different kinds of foods and candies and toys that were being sold. More than once, Koro nearly blew all of his spending money on things he didn't need. Thankfully, Maehara was there to drag Koro away from all of the tempting items being displayed.

As they walked, a particular sweet aroma caught the butler's attention, whom happened to focus on the scent for longer than a second. In that couple of seconds, Maehara disappeared into the empty faced crowd. His dirty blond hair disappearing like a flash of lighting.

"Maehara, we should get – Maehara?" Koro looked around, strands of his black hair getting blown in his face from the sudden breeze. "Oh shit. MAEHARA! MAEHARA! WHERE ARE YOU!?" He ran through the thickening crowd, where his screams and cries fell upon deaf ears.

* * *

Maehara didn't mean to wander away. He saw a girl his age carrying a small little ball and he wanted one. That's when he decided to chase the girl to ask where he could get a ball like hers, but not the same colour as hers. It wasn't until after talking with her, he realized that he was lost. Lost in a sea of empty faces. Just like in his dream.

Scared and alone, his chest begins to compress itself. He never had a panic attack before, but he could feel one starting to come on. He pressed his arms into his chest, protecting his vital organs, just how he learned in the classes Koro taught. Maehara didn't want to cry either.

Crying was for babies and Maehara was nine years old. That's nowhere close to being a baby. Still, being all alone in a new place is completely scary.

"K-Koro…?" he whimpered out. "Where are you…?" As much as he tried his darn hardest not to cry, he couldn't stop the tears that were slowly oozing its way out. "Koro… Koro… This isn't funny… I'm sorry…" As he wandered around, someone else bumped into him.

"Oof," the small body said. Tuffs of brown hair sticks out from underneath his cap. "I-I'm sorry… I didn't… didn't… um… are you okay?"

Maehara wiped his eyes. His gaze travels down to a dark purple splotch on the boy's shoulder, peeking out from his tattered clothing. "Are _you_ okay?" Maehara said back. "Is that paint?" He reached out to touch it, but the boy moved back with precision and grace. As if he's used to this, or at least had some training. The boy tugged on his cap, pulling it lower.

"… Sure."

The boy lifts his head a bit, it was enough for Maehara to catch a glimpse of the boy's eyes. Pale gold, just like the boy in his dream. But they don't stay focused on him for long, as those pale orbs darted around the market place, as if the boy was trying to look for someone that could materialize out in front of them. Like a ghost that's holding tightly onto invisible chains.

Maehara didn't feel as scared as he did before. Because he wasn't alone anymore. Someone else was with him, and that made everything okay.

"Can you help me find my… uncle?" he asked. "Please?"

The boy doesn't reply right away and Maehara felt something inside him wilt. He couldn't be alone anymore. No one liked being alone. "Okay," the boy said, grabbing hold of Maehara's hand, squeezing it. "We'll be okay, if we hold hands." Both boys agreed and began scanning the market place for Koro. The boy took the lead, showing Maehara where to go.

He followed the boy as they gracefully weaved their way through the legs of the faceless adults. The boy asked him questions about himself, which the young prince was more than happy to answer.

"What's your name?" Maehara asked. "Mine is Hiroto."

"Mine is—"

"Maehara!" Koro rushed over and grabbed the light haired boy, hoisting him up. "Where on earth did you run off to?"

Maehara didn't feel like explaining the story, instead, he turned to the boy – whose name he never got – and pointed up towards the castle. "Come to my house and play sometime okay? I live all the way up there!" He flashed the boy a wide smile. "Just ask for Hiroto Maehara!"

The boy with brown hair and pale gold eyes – that brighten when he smiled (Maehara concluded that the boy should smile more) – nodded and disappeared in the crowd. His small hand waving goodbye. The young prince waved back and turned to Koro. "Can we go home?"

Koro nodded. "Yes, I'm sure your parents are excited to hear all about the adventures you had experienced today. But this incident, we'll just keep a secret, okay?" The prince agreed, not because he knew that Koro would get a sharp salary reduction, but because he wanted to keep the boy with the golden eyes all to himself. Even if it meant never telling his parents about it.

Maehara couldn't place it but, he knew that boy and him were meant to be. Fate just hadn't intervened yet.

* * *

 **A/N: HUFFAH FOR NEW FANDOMS! I'm so excited to show this story because it's been in my head for a few weeks now.**

 **I really hope I got the characterization correct, if not, then I'm sorry and will try much harder next time.**

 **So till next time! Thank you for all the comments, favourites and follows.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Two**

* * *

He knew what it was like to be hurt; mentally, physically, emotionally. Somehow, he managed to remain emotionally strong. But as a skinny 11 year old, he's physically weak. Isogai could barely hold his head up when he was forced to head down into the market place one morning by his aunt. She gave him some money, not too much to draw attention to it, but enough to know if Isogai stole from her, which he would never do, but it wasn't like his aunt believed him anyways.

She told him to buy something that'll be enough for her family, excluding Isogai. The worst part of it all? She told him he was not allowed to get any goldfish. The poor brunette was never allowed to eat his favourite food because his aunt hated the taste.

Nonetheless, he braced himself for the loud and pushy Sunday crowd. As expected, peopled pushed into him, nearly trampling him in the process. All for cheap produce. Never underestimate the wrath of middle age women who are looking for a bargain. As Isogai walked the market place, some onlookers noticed him, but did nothing. When he turned and caught their eyes, he could see pity forming behind their colourless lenses. It was as if to say "that poor child, here all alone. Where are his parents?" He felt an invisible sting forming across his face.

It wasn't like he wasn't okay being alone because he is. He's perfectly capable surviving alone. He had adapted strategies to survive, especially when his aunt goes into a drunken stupor and had to take her pent up anger out on someone. Heaven forbid if the twins ever got hit. That'll just be the death of Isogai.

Heading to one of the abandon alleyways, he grabbed the wagon he found when he was seven years old and dragged it around behind him, making him look smaller than he already is.

He walked up to one of the produce stands and grabbed whatever he thought looked good in a meal. In his mind, he's thinking of all the meals he could cook with these. Taking them all, he places them on top of the counter, where an old man sat reading a newspaper. Looking into his little coin purse, he counted the amount of money he had. In his mind, he quickly did some basic math and realized that he could get away with spending $1.00 on one of the games without his aunt ever finding out.

"$7," the man said, holding out his hands. Isogai counted the coins, sliding exactly $7 into the man's hand. The man didn't count the coins to make sure – he trusted the young boy – in one swift movement, he hands Isogai the bag. "See you next week, Yumma."

"I'll see you then." The young boy grabbed the bag and walked away, happy at how kind the man is. The man at the vegetable stand, actually the merchants at every stand, loved Isogai. From his charming personality to his adorable looks, it wasn't hard to realize why people really liked him. His big doll like eyes would melt the hearts of all the hard-working men and ladies, thus leading them to charge him less money for the products.

Isogai was just lucky like that.

He placed the bags of fresh produce in the wagon, dragging around the extra weight that seemed a little bit heavier this time around. Maybe he bought too many things. _Oh… Auntie is going to kill me._ Swallowing, he pushed that thought out of his mind. He looked around for anything else that would satisfied his aunt and the twins.

When that was done, he took out exactly one dollar to play one of the games that set children up for failure, and empties the wallets of their parents. The so called net was too thin to effectively capture anything in it. It'd break the moment it touches water.

But Isogai didn't have a problem with these kinds of games though. His knife work – nurtured by his home duties of cooking, and cleaning, and chasing rabid dogs out of the backyard – had excelled beyond anyone's expectations. Within minutes, he managed to get two bags filled to the brim with goldfish. He hid them underneath a small pile of tomatoes and went on his merry way.

He hummed a bit to himself, looking up at the castle, looming over the impoverished town. He wondered if that boy Hiroto stilled remembered Isogai. He still remembered Hiroto. He still remembered the genuinely kind eyes that looked into his own soul. Just him asking the brunette if he was okay, really made his week. He can still feel that feeling of wanting to go up to the castle and play with him. But something held him back, scaring him so much that he didn't dare wander into the forest.

Shaking his head, Isogai walked home, dragging the wagon behind him, making a mental note to hide it somewhere after dropping off all of the food. If the twins got a hold of it, there will be no way he'll be able to get all of these heavy foods up to his home, sitting on top of a steep hill. Hiroto still lingered in the back of Isogai's mind.

 _I highly doubt he'll remember me._ Because two years is a long time. Because over time, they'll lose memories of each other. Fading along with the hands of time. Crumbling easily and blowing away into the distance like sand.

* * *

He was wrong, his aunt went into another one of her drunken rages. His back hurts because of it. His head hits the pillow, late at night. His eyes looking out of his window, wondering if Hiroto is looking at the exact same sky as him.

* * *

 **A/N: This one is a tad shorter than the other one. Oh well.**

 **From now on, it'll be from Isogai's perspective (just in case someone got confused). And it's AU, I forgot to mention that in the first chapter.**

 **Thank you so much for all of the favourites, follows and comments! :D**


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